


First Movement

by sequence_fairy



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 14:12:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12191460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sequence_fairy/pseuds/sequence_fairy
Summary: And thus, the blade swung down.





	First Movement

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [ichirukimonth](http://ichirukimonth.tumblr.com). Prompt was 'chapter/episode tag'. This is a tag to chapter 1 of the manga.

Ichigo collapses, the same way that a tree falls – slowly at first and then all at once. He makes no sound when he hits the ground, but his sword clatters against the pavement, and it is so loud on the now silent street that it makes Rukia’s heart gallop into her throat. She takes a deep, steadying breath, and grits her teeth against the white lightning pain that rockets through her body as she steps towards where he has fallen.

She sinks to her knees beside him, road grit digging into her skin through the thin material of her white robes. Her broken collarbone throbs, and blood seeps down her useless arm to drip onto the road. 

The steady patter feels like a clock counting down. 

What has she done? This man – no, this  _child_  – what was she thinking involving him in  _Shinigami_  business? Oh sure, he’d run in like an idiot and nearly gotten them both killed, but she was the one who gave him her power, she’s the one who has been left powerless in the  _gensei,_  barely able to even pick up the residual whiff of spiritual pressure from the hollow Ichigo has just dispatched. 

_Nii-sama_  was right, Rukia thinks, she doesn’t deserve to be anything but an unseated officer. Only someone who has forgotten all her training would have been so stupid. Something hot and shame-filled bubbles up in her chest and her eyes burn. Rukia blinks furiously to dispel the tears. She will not cry. She is not some uninformed infant, she made her choices, she will have to live with them. She inhales, and curls her good hand into a fist. 

Stupid, stupid boy, she thinks, looking down at Ichigo. What were you thinking? Attacking a hollow with a bat. As if that would do any good. 

Around them, the air is filled with an expectant hush, and even the sounds of the city proper sound shrouded and distant. Rukia reaches out, tentative, and brushes her hand through his fringe. Ichigo’s brow furrows but he doesn’t come to. Emboldened, Rukia reaches further, sliding her hand along his shoulder and down his arm. Her fingertips graze the hilt of his sword, and it hums under her touch. 

Touching someone else’s  _zanpakuto_  is the greatest taboo she knows, but Rukia has already broken every other rule tonight, and what is there to lose? The simmering power in the blade feels familiar but foreign. Rukia swears she can feel the quiet acceptance of  _Sode no Shirayuki_  beneath the crackling power of someone else. 

There’s a flash: Rukia has a glimpse of blue skies and sideways clouds; a disembodied laugh echoes in the back of her mind. Rukia withdraws her hand, curling it against her chest, feeling the thud of her heart beating against her sternum. 

The sound of  _geta_  sandals on the pavement makes Rukia’s head turn. 

“Well, well, well,” the newcomer drawls, eyes hidden under the brim of his hat. “What have we here?”


End file.
